I believe the “falling away” has already come. It is a spiritual reference to “falling away” from the truth that God has established. That happened with the development and establishment of the Catholic Church. It was the first denomination that divided the church that Christ built ( Matt. 16;18). In that sense, they “fell away” from the order that God established. The person described in 2 Thess. Sounds an awful lot like the “pope” of the Catholic Church. He exalts himself and calls himself God. People bow down to him and worship him. 1 Timothy 4:2 also talks about this “falling away” saying in verse 1 that “some will DEPART FROM THE FAITH giving heed to deceiving spirits and DOCTRINES of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy…forbidding to marry (Catholic church) and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who BELIEVE AND KNOW THE TRUTH. For how many years did the Catholic Church forbid people to eat meat on Fridays? Many, many have fallen away from the “truth” that Christ established in the first century. We are living in the last days; we just have to remember that a 1000 years is as a day with God.
Matthew 24 is a difficult chapter. There are a few key verses that we must keep in mind when we study it. First, Jesus and his disciples are discussing the temple verse 1-2. Jesus says that the temple will be “thrown down” and “not one stone shall be left on another.” I don’t know how much you know about the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 by the Romans, but this is a reference to that destruction. That was only about 40 years from this conversation. It was a major milestone because it destroyed the Jewish temple with all of their genealogies that they had kept for centuries. The Jews prided themselves on the fact that they could trace their ancestry all the way back to Abraham. See John 8:39, Matt. 3:9, and Luke 3:8. But after this last destruction of the tempke and of all Jerusalem, no Person who calls himself a Jew can trace his ancestry back to the Jewish fathers, Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. Jesus is referring to that destruction in these first 2 verses.
The next verse, verse 3, the disciples ask 3 questions: (1) Tell us, when will these things be?” (2). What will be the sign of your coming? And (3). Of the end of the age?” The rest of the chapter is Jesus’s answer to these 3 questions and you have to keep that in mind as you study this chapter, or you are likely to derive some wrong conclusions. In verse 15-21 He is talking about the destruction of Jerusalem. If you do a little research into secular history about the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, you will see that when Titus came with the Roman army they surrounded the city but pulled back for a brief period. History tells us that 1000’s of Christians fled the city at that time and went into the mountains before the Roman’s came back and destroyed the city. Some scholars say not one Christian lost their life in that destruction. It’s very interesting. They credit this teaching of Jesus for that. Verse 28 “the eagles will be gathered together” some believe is a reference to the Roman army whose “ensign” was an Eagle.
Many times throughout the Bible, punishment was often described as “the day of the Lord”. Often that day was described as the moon, stars and sun would be darkened and/or fall out of the sky. See Isaiah 13:10, and Joel 3:15. It has come to be a sign of God’s impending judgement on a people or nation for sin. Verses 29-31 is God’s judgement. As I have stated in another post, many prophecies like this have a twofold meaning. One, primary, usually physical, for the people at that time and one secondary, usually spiritual, for all people for all time. He is saying that this destruction is going to be a judgement from God. But it also fits for us who are way past the events of AD 70. It describes our “day of the Lord” also which for us will be the end of the world. Symbolically, it was the end of their world also, as they knew it. It was the end of an “age.” The reason I know this and am so sure this is what Jesus is talking about is because of verse 34.
“I assure you, this generation will by no means pass away until all these things take place.” The rest of the chapter has. Twofold meaning also. It is the answer to the last two questions and describes their particular physical destruction as well as our judgement day. It was the end of an “age” for them and it will be the end of the “age” for us.
How amazing is our God who is so wise that He can write with such depth and understanding!
Like 21:20, again is talking about the destruction of Jerusalem which would take place in less than 40 years from this statement. Again, this physical destruction of the Jews will be a judgement from God. Remember when they killed God’s Son, they said, “ Let his blood be on us and our children.” Matt. 26:25. Did they place a curse on themselves? I think so. But it is very much like what God’s judgement will be at the end of time. So when I read this, I apply it to me and our present day situation. AD 70 is long past. I am preparing for that next “day of the Lord” that will bring God’s judgement and as Revelation 14:10 says, God’s wrath will be pored out FULL STRENGTH ( unmixed with “mercy”). What a day THAT will be!
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